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Topic: [CHI] Jet Li (Read 17585 times)

Li Lianjie (born April 26, 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese martial artist (Kung fu), actor, Wushu champion, and international film star. After three years of intensive training, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring at age 17, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon a Time in China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei Hung. His first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, most recently starring beside Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), and as the titular villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) alongside Brendan Fraser.

I will never forget the day I saw Jet Li for the first time. I was around 13 or 14 and one day I borrowed a couple of asian flicks from my vietnamese homie. The only movie that I still remember is Jet Li's Fist of Legend. The video quality was wack but I was still able to see Jet Li beating up dozens of motherfuckers. I had never seen anything like that before. Jet Li was fast, serious and bone breakingly brutal. After I saw Jet beat up a class full of badass japanese dudes, I was sold.

Fist of Legend was a real fucking adrenaline rush compared to more comedic Jackie Chan movies. After watching the movie I wanted to go out and punch random people in the face! Unfortunately back then there were no Jet Li movies available so I went back to Jackie's shit. Jet gained some hype over here after kicking ass in Lethal Weapon 4 and they finally started releasing his older movies. Fong Sai Yuk and Once Upon a Time in China were the first ones I saw but they were something different than Fist of Legend. I had never seen wire-fu flicks before so I was once again blown away when I saw Jet in action. Dude was doing all kinds of crazy acrobatic shit, flying around and kicking some serious butt!

I became a huge fan of Jet and rented every movie I could find and downloaded the rest. I have been following his career for about 10 years and I'm still a huge fan even though his Hollywood movies have been less than stellar. He might not be able to do as crazy shit as before but I have noticed that his acting has improved a lot during the last few years. Everybody who thinks that Jet can't act should watch The Warlords. His performance as a ruthless army commander is fucking amazing

How do you like the sound of that? Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Jet Li all kicking some South American ass! Remember way back in February, we wrote about how Stallone had been contracted to direct two action movies? This is one of them. The Expendables will follow a team of mercenaries on a mission to overthrow a South American dictator. Shooting begins in February in Costa Rica and Louisiana. This sounds like a Rambo-like action-filled jungle-set violence extravaganza - and I can't fucking wait! This casting news is just like if Rambo asked both Statham and Jet Li to join his crew to kill some bad guys.

Not to spoil anything, but given the title of the film, it sounds like these mercenaries were sent down to South America but realize halfway through that they're expendable and meant to die. So in the end they turn on their employer and head back up and kick his ass, too. Either way, I'm sure it'll have a lot of violence and I know that's the way we all like it. I really can't think of a better combination of action stars - Stallone, Statham, and Li! Am I dreaming or is this really happening? No details on who wrote the script, so let's just hope that's up to Stallone standards, too.

GENEVA (AFP) – The World Health Organisation has chosen Chinese action movie star Jet Li as a Goodwill Ambassador to champion key health issues, the UN agency said Friday. "Jet Li is expected to use his worldwide celebrity to raise attention on key health issues including public health responses to emergencies and mental health," the WHO said in a statement.

He will attend the launch of the World Health Day in Beijing on April 7 in his new WHO capacity. WHO Director General Margaret Chan -- who hails from Hong Kong -- said his involvement in community work would be a "great asset" to the WHO. In December 2004, Beijing-born Jet Li and his family had a brush with death as they were in a Maldives hotel which was flooded during the tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean.

Following that incident, he turned to philantrophy and started a charity called One Foundation, which aims to help victims of natural disasters. On his latest appointment, Jet Li said: "If we do not take care of our bodies, we will not be able to do many things. This is our common belief, and I will do my very best to spread this shared belief to the world." He began learning Chinese martial arts from the age of eight and was a national champion. He started his film career at 17, after retiring from the sport.

Update: As The Associated Press reported on Monday, a press conference took place today to formally announce Jet Li’s next Chinese-language film which we already know is not martial art related. Here are additional details. He will star in OCEAN PARADISE alongside Taiwanese actress Kwai Lun-mei (ALL ABOUT WOMEN). The script’s writer Xue Xiao-lu is making his directing debut. He previously wrote the 2002 Chen Kaige drama TOGETHER WITH YOU. (Source: Reuters)

The Associated Press reports that Jet Li is set to begin acting in a new, non-kung fu movie tentatively titled OCEAN PARADISE. A publicist for Edko, the film’s distributor, confirms that it will be helmed by a new director and will be released in 2010. Further details are expected to be announced during an official news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Li recently finished shooting scenes for Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming all-star actioner THE EXPENDABLES. He will also be making a brief cameo appearance in FOUNDING OF THE NATION, a historical drama depicting the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Li’s last three films have all been from Hollywood and his latest will be his first starring role since Peter Chan’s THE WARLORDS (2007).

Li has also been keeping busy with charity work through his One Foundation. He recently joined forces with former British prime minister Tony Blair to provide solar-powered LED lights to Chinese, Indian and African villages. The two launched the five-year project in Baigong Village, in Guiyang, the capital of southwestern China’s Guizhou province on Aug 22.

Kung fu star Jet Li has confirmed that he is a Singapore citizen, the website Dfdaily.com reports. When Li attended the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Singapore, he acknowledged to a Taiwan media that he had immigrated there. He was invited to attend the meeting as one of the representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises. It had been reported for months that Li changed his citizenship, although he remained silent about the matter. It also had been previously reported that Li bought a house for 19.8 million Singapore dollars ($13.6 million) in Singapore in May and that his daughters were attending schools there.

When talking about Singapore, Li said it was a clean and safe city in which to live and that he found its bilingual schools and multiple cultures attractive. Li, who had not taken on any acting roles in the past year and a half, had fully committed himself to his One Foundation, which he founded in 2007 as a charitable organization. In the interview with the media, Li said he was grateful to his wife, Nina Li Chi, who supported him financially during his acting hiatus. He also indicated that he did not intend to make any films in the short term. During the APEC conference, Li encouraged young adults to pursue their dreams but said he himself had no more dreams now. He said when one comes to terms with time, space, the universe and life and the rules of all of these, his mind will be at great peace.

Jet Li is back doing Chinese-language films after almost 2 years in Hollywood productions, including those films which he co-produced such as “The Forbidden Kingdom” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. Li also took a break from making movies since mid last year to spend his time doing charity works. He only accommodated a supporting role in Sylvester Stallone’s powerhouse cast movie “The Expendables” and a guest appearance in “The Founding of a Republic” with Jackie Chan in celebration of the 60th founding anniversary of the Republic of China.

For the first time, Li will be seen in a movie not doing Kung Fu, instead Li stars in a family drama where he portrays a father caring for his autistic son in “Ocean Paradise”. Wen Zhang, a rising Chinese actor, will play as his son while Kwai Lun Mei cameos as a circus clown who met the two during a performance in Qingdao. Ocean Paradise is a directorial debut of Chinese screenwriter Xue Xiao-lu and the storyline was taken from his personal experiences. Li can also relate to the film as he had met some autistic children when he was doing charity work in the recent years.

They started shooting the film just last month (September). Ocean Paradise is scheduled for release in spring 2010 and will be distributed in China and Hongkong by Edko films.

Chinese martial arts star Jet Li attended a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday for his first non-action film.

The cast of film "Ocean Heaven" attend a press conference in Beijing, May 5. [Photo: sohu.com]

The film, called "Ocean Heaven", is based on a real story, according to sohu.com.

It tells how a terminally ill man helps his autistic adolescent son fight the disease. Jet Li and rising mainland actor Wen Zhang play the father and son in the movie.

The film will be Li's first non-action role in his 25 years as a movie actor. Li explained that he was attracted by the story, since it teaches people to give more care to those who are suffering from difficulties. He admitted that he himself had had experience in this field, after his nephew was diagnosed with autism several years ago. That incident made him realize how important it is to offer attention and care to those who are affected.

The film is directed by Xue Xiaolu, who previously wrote the script for Chen Kaige's award-winning film "Together".

Jet Li's first non-action drama, "Ocean Heaven" (海洋天堂) is among the 16 films competing for the top Golden Goblet award at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, the organizer announced Thursday.

"Ocean Heaven" centers on a terminally ill man who helps his adolescent son fight autism. Jet Li plays the father.

Other films competing for the Golden Goblet award include "Zonad" (Ireland), "Circuit" (Spain), "Detour" (Canada) and "The Rowan Waltz" (Russia).

This year's festival has attracted a record-setting 2,327 submissions from 81 countries and regions, according to the organizer.

"Mission: Impossible 2" director John Woo will lead a jury of six other industrial heavyweights, including Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai, American director/writer/producer Bill Guttentag and Japanese filmmaker Yojiro Takita.

The 13th Shanghai International Film Festival will run from June 12 to 20.

After his first non-action role in the tear-jerker "Ocean Heaven", actor Jet Li returns to the martial-arts world with a US$12-million contract to star in Tsui Hark's "New Dragon Gate Inn", Information Times reports.

Polybona, the film's production company, is willing to pay the sky-high salary to encourage Li and Tsui's first collaborative project in 18 years, the report said.

Tsui's 1990s film series "Once Upon a Time in China" helped produce one of Li's best-known roles - Wong Fei-Hung. But rumors surfaced in 1992 that the two did not get along with each other while working on the third installment.

"New Dragon Gate Inn", which will be shot in 3-D, will be Tsui's attempt to remake the 1992 classic film "Dragon Inn" for which he was a producer.

The film follows Ming Dynasty General Chow Wai-On who fights the power-hungry eunuch Tsao Siu-Yan at a deserted inn called Dragon Gate.

Li will play Chow Wai-On. Zhou Xun has been cast as the inn's seductive owner Jade. The actor for Tsao Siu-Yan remains unknown.

The weeklong SportAccord Combat Games, which open this Saturday (August 28) in Beijing, will see more than 1,000 competitors from 66 countries and regions vying in 13 categories, including Wushu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling.

A famous Chinese action movie star Jet Li and American movie actress Angelina Jolie are expected to be included in a new movie to be produced in Cambodia.

In a press conference held on Wednesday in Phnom Penh, Thomas Magyar, a project manager for the planned movie, and Tony Schiena, a project coordinator and a Hollywood star said the film they had planned to produce will be named as "Great Khmer Empire."

They said the film might cost approximately 70 million U.S. dollars and it will need about three years to make it, saying the large time span will be caused by the consultations with Cambodian government and historians on accuracy of the history as well as the script writing.

Both Tony Schiena and Thomas Magyar said, to date, they are looking at several famous movies stars such as Jet Li, Chinese action star, Angelina Jolie, an American movie actress, John Cena, world's famous wrester and South Korean movie actress Song Hye Kyo among others.

The movie will focus on history of Cambodia, especially, during the glorious period in 11th and 12th century under the King Jayavarman the VII, who until today, considered as the great King of Cambodia and who finished up the building of Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia.

Angelina Jolie adopted a Cambodian son and was granted a Cambodian citizenship.

She was also a star in the famous movie titled "Tomb Raider" which some parts of the episodes were also shot in Siem Reap province where many temples including Angkor Wat Temple are located in.

In the pictures Jet Li is in black from head to toe. The costume is extremely simple, and even the sword he carries looks plain.

"When he performs, complex clothing and accessories would distract viewers' attention, I hope the audience can focus on his actions and the way he uses his sword. That's the reason why he looks plain on the outside", explains Tsui Hark, the director.

He also says, "3-D technology brought us brand new visual experiences, making 2-D version action movies less attractive. We need to design new rules to make the action suitable for the 3-D version."

Yuen Bun, the action director of the film, says Jet Li won't disappoint the audience. He has designed some difficult but novel actions for Li.

The story of "The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" is based on Tsui Hark's 1992 movie "Dragon Inn" ("Xin Long Men Ke Zhan"). It is the first time such action movies have been made in 3-D version.

The film stars Jet Li, Chen Kun, Zhou Xun and Mavis Fan. It is to open in late 2011.